Escondido police warn of lottery scam

ESCONDIDO  Escondido police are warning residents of a scam targeting Spanish speakers who are promised large sums of cash in return for helping cash a lottery ticket “worth millions.”

The victims are usually approached by a woman fluent in Spanish who asks for help, saying she can’t get the proceeds until until she pays taxes and fees, Lt. Eric Skaya said.

At that point a man shows up and he calls a third person on a speaker phone who verifies the ticket is worth millions which will be released as soon as the fees are paid.

The scammers ask the victim for the fee money and in return they promise to pay them back four or five times more than their original investment.

After the money changes hands the suspects disappear.

The pair have been operating along East Valley Parkway east of Ash Street, Skaya said.

Police ask anyone who is approached by strangers trying to persuade them to hand over money that they should not play along, and get a good physical description of the suspects and any vehicle and call 911.